Broken
by ikariss
Summary: When Blue's life is on the line Hige abandons everything he has to save her, but is everything really enough? 1st chapter-songfic to "Broken" by Seether. No longer one-shot. Please R
1. Broken

(smashes keyboard) ARRRGHHHH!!!!!! I wrote this whole fic, it was beautiful, descriptive, I loved it and the stupid, frickin (this portion has been blocked for viewer discretion) power went out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I lost every word of my fic, all 3,000 of them. (enters a new stage of anger and breaks downs in tears) I can't believe this happened, I just cannot believe it!!!! Gah, I'm gonna try and write it again but it's always worse the second time around. (grumbles off)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own WR or "Broken," if I was smart enough to write either of those I would've probably been smart enough to save my work  
  
Pairings: Blue x Hige, but I think that's pretty obvious :p  
  
A/N: ---song---, got it? Easy enough? Good.  
  
Well time to write this fic for the second stupid time (grumbles off again)(jams in the save button)  
  
Dark clouds of gray loomed fretfully over the bitter white wasteland of snow and glistening ice. The piercing frost of snow rubbed irately against Hige's chapped, raw paws as the wintry wind blew across his fur, leaving his muscles to pulsate in chill. He turned his glossy maroon eyes from his feet to gaze upon the haggard forms of his pack. Kiba was hardly visible against the dancing torrents of sleet and snow, however Hige could still make out Cheza's warm, thin arms intertwined tightly against the wolf's coarse white hair. Jealousy stormed his mind, leaving him in a eruption of cold that ceased his vigorous pace.  
  
"Only think of her," he commanded himself in a voice barely audible above the roaring of wind. He knew he didn't need to remind himself of this, ever since Blue had left to find her pops her radiant features and soft melodic voice had left him in a constant reverie.  
  
(A/N: the electricity just went out again but I had it saved this time! Don't ask me why the power's going out it's not even storming)  
  
"Hige, are you okay!?" Toboe yelled, noticing the dark silhouette of Hige's thick body paces away from where the rest of the pack stood.  
  
"Err yeah, I'm fine Runt," Hige turned to his human form and slipped a hand behind his head in embarrassment. "Just lost in thought for a second, that's all." Hige spoke truthfully, jogging through the packed white snow to join the others.  
  
"Can't you keep up, Chubby?" Tsume scoffed, "'lost in thought,' yeah, like we'd fall for that. Even the runt can keep up today."  
  
"Tsume's right," Kiba nodded, turning his wolven azure eyes to Hige. "We have to hurry, I can smell Jagura's troops not far from here and we need to find shelter for Cheza."  
  
Hige turned his nose to the thick mass of swirling gray sky above his head. "Well if everyone's going to give me a hard time I guess I just won't tell you my secret." He casually stretched his arms above his head while nonchalantly turning to his companion's confused faces.  
  
"Hige please tell us your secret, pleeeaassee." Toboe whined, turning to his human form he grasped his pale hands around Hige's yellow sleeve.  
  
"Just tell us why don't you." Tsume spoke gruffly, deciding it best to avoid insulting the maroon-eyed boy when he wanted something from him.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll tell you," Hige teased, pulling his arm from Toboe's hold. He took a few steps forward as the soft crunch of sneaker against snow followed, sighing first he withdrew a bitter huff of air. "Yep," he turned back to the pack. "Just as I thought, hot dogs, exhaust, and perfume. There's a town not 3 yards from here."  
  
"Really?" Toboe asked, golden eyes growing in excitement. "Kiba, can we please stop?" The pup turned his attention to the understood leader of the small group of friends.  
  
"I guess we could stop for tonight, I don't want Cheza in the cold all night." Kiba responded, shifting uncomfortably under the petite girl's weight. "Hige, since you know where it is you can lead us."  
  
Hige hastily nodded, turning back to his true wolf form he set off toward the scent, sending sprays of glistening powder in his wake. The bitter cold couldn't penetrate the warmth of his heart, for in the mixture of scents one held heavy against his heart, forcing him to speak one secret word to the gusts of wind caressing his face, "Blue."  
  
---I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well I wanna hold you high and steal your pain  
  
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome And I don't feel right when you're gone away---  
  
"Wow, Tubby wasn't kidding, there really is a city." Tsume scoffed as they neared the entrance to a warm gray town nestled safely against the outskirts of the icy desert.  
  
"Hey, give me some credit, it may be cold today but the worst of blizzards can't numb these senses." Hige rose cockily to his human form, sliding a warm finger across the bridge of his large nose.  
  
"It might not numb your senses but it's apparent the snow did a number on that little pea of a brain you have." Tsume laughed, following Hige's actions he changed to his false human image and sent a fist to the head of his stocky companion.  
  
"What was that?!" Hige roared, elbowing the white-haired man in the stomach.  
  
"Oh, apparently you're ears were affected too, huh?" Tsume teased, as he stepped forward to lay another punch he felt himself being pushed back.  
  
"Please ,guys, stop fighting." Toboe whimpered, carefully wedging himself between the bickering friends.  
  
"That's enough," Kiba demanded, taking sudden charge over the situation. "We need to find shelter for the night."  
  
"Shelter? What about food?" Hige asked, leaning against the short black metal gate surrounding the city.  
  
"Shelter's first priority we need to keep Cheza warm." Kiba replied in a slightly frustrated voice. He never could understand why he was the only one who safeguarded her. She wasn't just his, the others needed her for paradise too.  
  
"This one is fine, Kiba." Cheza placed a soft, pallid hand on the skin of Kiba's bare arm, breaking him from his thoughts.  
  
"See?" Hige inquired, "you guys can go find shelter and I'll catch up with you later, after I find some food."  
  
"You'll be able to find us again?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt.  
  
"Of course, I will, why are you even asking? Nose of steel, remember?"  
  
Kiba stood uneasily, looking to his feet in concentration. "Ok," Kiba spoke finally, breaking the lingering silence with his composed voice. "Come on ,Tsume, Toboe, let's find shelter." With those words he set off walking to the heart of the city, Cheza still wrapped comfortably around his muscular shoulders.  
  
Tsume scoffed, turning his eyes momentarily to the sky he walked after Kiba, pulling the neck of Toboe's soft, red collar behind him. "Be careful," Toboe squeaked as he struggled to keep from falling backwards.  
  
"Don't be stupid, runt, I'm only looking for food." Hige laughed, baring a large fake smile to comfort his friends as they slowly disappeared in a sea of soft white flurries.  
  
"They know what I'm really doing," Hige mumbled to himself when the wolves were safely out of sight. He rose a hand to his forehead and ran his ardent fingers through the thick brown strands of cold russet hair. "Why do I do these things?" He asked himself aloud as his lips fell into a deep frown. He wanted to be honest, to let his friends know what he was really thinking, to confide in them. But he couldn't, it stared at him in his face, a blaring reality, he could only trusted one person with his innermost thoughts.  
  
Shoving his hands in his pockets Hige shuffled his numb feet through the icy road, careful to keep a distance from the busy people crowding the frosty streets. "She's got to be near, her scent's strong." He reassured himself, sending his heart in a brisk procession of beats. The souls of his feet filled with warmth as his quick walk rose immediately to a sprint through the lonely yet crowded streets, following the alluring scent of his beloved.  
  
"Blue!" He found himself screaming, he had lost control of his body, it only had one objective and nothing else mattered. He wheeled around the corner of an alley, pausing as his soft maroon eyes filled with tears. Mere feet before his nose, barely discernible through the heavy torrents of sleet and snow, was a soft black profile shrouded with Blue's handsome scent.  
  
"Blue," his lip quivered in happiness as he took a soft step forward.  
  
The profile shifted, turning to the one who had broken the solitude surrounding it. "Do I look like Blue to you?" A gruff man's voice rose to the air, stinging Hige's nostrils with the pungent scent of alcohol.  
  
"oh it's you, Quent." Hige's soft eyes fell to the floor before rising once more to the old man ahead of him. "Where's Blue," he asked frantically, feeling overwhelmed with a wave of loss. "She went to find you! Where is she!?" He shrieked again, wrapping his fists in the slightly damp clothe of Quent's thick coat.  
  
The old man's eyes concentrated to the ground, shading his eyes with darkness from his hat, his thin, chapped lips rose to a scowl. "Looking for me?" He asked in a soft rhetorical voice. A surge pulsated through his fist as he quickly rose the mouth of his gun to Hige's chest.  
  
"H-hey I didn't mean anything by it," Hige backed up startled, rising the soft palms of his hands to his sides.  
  
"If she was looking for me," Quent continued, tightening both hands to the gun's trigger. "If she was looking for me, she wouldn't be out in a blizzard right now." He clenched his teeth in anger, whispering profanities under his breath.  
  
"Blue, but why? Where the hell is she, you're not making any sense!" The brown-haired boy roared as he turned to run back to the icy wasteland beyond the outskirts of town. His actions were ceased as suddenly as they stopped as a deep pain in the apple of his back knocked him off balance.  
  
"You're not going anywhere," Quent's hands shook with desperation as he pushed his gun heavily into Hige's back. "Y-you're a wolf, w-wolves who killed my family. You're all wicked demons, demons who don't deserve to live." He chocked through his words, struggling to compose his deep voice.  
  
"Even Blue?" Hige inquired, limply dropping his arms to his sides he let the sharp, cold wind caress his tired face. "Does Blue deserve death as well?" He asked again as the silence relentlessly drummed his throbbing ears.  
  
"Blue," Quent sobbed, scrunching his nose in anxiety he dropped his beloved pistol, sending a metallic clang to echo through the empty walls of the abandoned alleyway.  
  
Hige tightened his muscles in anticipation, expecting the cold, agonizing pain of being shot. "Bring her back, unscathed, or I'll have your hide you dirty mutt." The old man returned to his old harsh nature as he kicked snow over his abandoned gun.  
  
Hige turned hastily and nodded his head in amazement. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her." He spoke truthfully before dropping to his husky wolf form and racing to barren lands of the arctic desert.  
  
---You've gone away, you don't feel me, anymore  
  
The worst is over now and we can breathe again I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight I wanna hold you high and steal your pain---  
  
Snow whirled in fits as the wind grew to torrential speeds stinging the cerulean eyes of it's black-furred partaker. "Hige, where are you?" Blue whispered through her tight black lips. She was beginning to regret her actions, why couldn't she had stayed with pops? Hige was smart, he had great senses, was her running to be a guide really necessary?  
  
"Stop it!" She demanded herself, pausing her searching footsteps to compose the eruption of thoughts. "One storm's enough, don't make one in you head." She breathed, watching nostalgically as the soul of her warm breath seethed past her gentle lips.  
  
Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest as she envisioned Hige's happy face. "No, he needs me. I know he does." She assured herself before charging further into the torrential blizzard of sleet.  
  
---'Cause I'm broken when I'm open And I don't feel like I am strong enough 'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome And I don't feel right when you're gone away---  
  
Hige stopped his quickening pace to sniff the air. It had been hours since he had set out, the looming gray sky was slowly eclipsing with veins of purple and black. He knew he had to find Blue before nightfall, if he didn't there was a great chance they would freeze to death, not to mention the fact that the malicious scent of Jagura's troops had grown stronger by the minute.  
  
"If I carry on like this Jagura's soldiers will find Blue before I do," his thoughts pounded, making him sprint toward Blue's scent all over again. His heartbeat matched the thump of his paws on the packed snow, he knew the two scents were too close together. Chances were he'd be too late. Squinting his eyes he released a melodic howl of warning with all his might, praying it would reach her ears.  
  
---'Cause I'm broken when I'm open And I don't feel like I am strong enough 'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome And I don't feel right when you're gone away---  
  
The restless wind whirled angrily against Blue's sensitive ears, forcing her to pull to a stop and catch her breath. Her panting breath filled the air as a distant voice perked her ears. "Hige?" She quietly whispered to the storm. "HIGE!!??" She screamed again, turning to human form.  
  
She sat agitatedly waiting for a reply when another noise stroked her distressed soul. "Hige is that you!?" She shouted, slightly quieter for fear of what it might be. This sound was different, instead of the harmonious song of the previous encounter, this sounded heavier, more metallic, like machinery.  
  
"I don't know who Hige is," a croaking voice whispered behind her back, pulling her hands together and raising the hairs on the back of her neck. "But you'll be joining him in hell very shortly."  
  
"W-who are you?" Blue hesitated, realizing what a stupid question it was. "Did he see me as a wolf?" Her thoughts pounded, "should I play off just being a normal human girl?"  
  
"What I mean to say is, what have I done, I'm just a lost girl. Is that illegal or something?" Blue asked, straightening her posture with a new cockiness to her voice.  
  
"Don't play dumb with me you dirty mutt!" The man tightened his grip on her wrists, leaning his mouth to her ear. "I know what you are, and your kind aren't welcome here anymore," he whispered with a sneer.  
  
"God, no!!" Blue's mind fluttered as she felt her knees weakening. "Well then," she decided finally, attempting to step away from the man's grip. "I guess I'll just have to bite your hands off," she snarled falling to her true wolf form she ripped around and dug her teeth into the soft flesh of his bony hand.  
  
She released his hands from her muscular jaw, ready to attack the man again when the sight of a huge army of soldiers filled her cobalt eyes. "Dammit," she whispered, tough nature refusing her to show any signs fear. "Hige where are you?" She gasped before charging into the flock of muscle and guns.  
  
---'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome And I don't feel right when you're gone away---  
  
Hige flew through the snowy wasteland tearing through the snow as of it was water. He had heard gunshots and he knew it could only mean one thing.  
  
"I'm almost there, the smell is strong." He thoughts whirled as he enclosed on the battle. He stood stunned momentarily upon reaching the battlefield, stunned over the number of bloodied soldiers littered the once white ground. But many more were still fighting, gunshots whirred through the air only giving him slight glimpses of a furry flash of black.  
  
"Blue!!" He cried, uncaring if his presence was noticed or not. Suddenly the blur stopped as Blue turned her head in Hige's direction, forcing him to watch helplessly as a bullet penetrated her neck. "NO BLUE!!!" He screamed, baring his teeth he tore through the men, finishing the job his beloved had so bravely started, till the men fled to their master; knowing the job could not be completed with their lives in tact.  
  
"Such cowards," Blue scoffed, suddenly reminding Hige that she lay on the snow herself.  
  
"Dammit, this is all my fault. Blue are you going to be okay!?" Hige fell to his knees, pulling Blue to his lap and brushing her hair from her face.  
  
"I-I'll be okay, I-I've missed you." She coughed, blood gurgling in her throat.  
  
"Blue promise me, promise me you won't ever leave me again. I need you, to confide in. I need you to love!" Pearly tears fell from Hige's maroon eyes, dripping down the bridge of Blue's tan nose.  
  
"I-I won't, Hige. I-I'm broken," she coughed once more, snuggling closer to Hige's warm breast. "I'm broken without you." She slowly closed her glossy eyes. Finally secure in the lap of her lover, she had found paradise.  
  
---You've gone away You don't feel me here anymore---  
  
All done!!! Mind you it's not as good as my first one (sniff sniff) but it turned out decently enough. BTW, you can interpret it anyway you want, Blue dying or not dying. As for me I don't think she dies, I guess I could write a second chapter even though this was meant to be a one-shot--depends on my review I suppose.  
  
Oh and heh heh in case you couldn't tell that fight scene was a lot longer in the original but I was running out of steam so---yeah--it got shortened  
  
Well hoped you enjoyed this fic, in case you're a fanatic like me who frantically searches for Blue x Hige fics I'll just tell you that all my other WR fics have Hige x Blue pairing as well. : )  
  
Once more, thanks for reading. Please R&R, I need the support : ) 


	2. Picking up the pieces

I'm back---errr---BOO! Lol well I decided to make this a well ummn not-one-shot---? Yeah, this'll probably be the last chapter but I couldn't leave ya'll with that ending, now could I? -.- ok, ok in truth I really wanted to write a second chapter. I was just praying and hoping some one would ask me to and some one did! (thanks Kinyah or the painted wolf pup or w/e (sweat drop))  
  
Ok but since you people were so nice to review I'll return the favor and respond : )  
  
The painted wolf pup: I love you too!--also in a friend way---thanks for reviewing!! And I know I already said it but thank you for not wanting it to be a one-shot, I didn't want it to be either and I know what happens, lol--does that make sense? I dunno I want it written---and I want others to get to know what happens--so yeah. There. (sweat drop)  
  
Psychobunny410: Uggh I know, the power actually went out like 6 times after that but I didn't want to keep interrupting the story to tell you that. Yeah, but thanks, the second copy wasn't quite as good as the first but I'm still glad you enjoyed it : )  
  
Maiden Cheza: (tear) that has to be one of the top reviews I've ever gotten (hands you a jug of pocky) Thank you soo much, that review really made my day!  
  
CoLLiSiOn (did I get that right?): yeah I know I wrote "Seether and Amy Lee" and in retrospect I probably should've put "Seether featuring Amy Lee" but what can I say I'm lazy so I just went with "and" lol! But yeah, thanks for reviewing!  
  
LuCiFeR's DaUgHtEr: I almost made you cry? Seriously, now you're gonna make me cry! Lol, I love knowing people enjoy my work! Thanks so much for reviewing!  
  
Whiskers: Ah boy, k I sowwey!!!!!! But read this chapter--you might like me a little better, won't tell you more than that though. Oh and OMG I'm sooo soooo sooooooooooo sorry for not updating my other fic, Red Moon, in so long. You probably don't even care about that fic anymore but in case you do I swear the next chapter is coming this week or I'll chain myself to the keyboard!!! Oh and you get a special award and a jug of pocky for reviewing all my works, Thank you so much!!  
  
Toboe's pup: Well hopefully Quent will have some mercy, or not (shrug) you'll have to read and find out, won't you now. Lol thanks for reviewing : )  
  
Bella: Another awesome review! You people are too nice to me, I don't deserve it!! Thank you soo much I was having a bad day and then I read this review and I was instantly happy--easy to please, heh heh : ) you get a jug of pocky for being so nice to me! So enjoy your virtual pocky and the next chapter!!  
  
Ok that's everyone!! Thanks again for reviewing everyone!! Hope the second chapter lives up to the first----if it doesn't pretend you never read the second chapter, puhleeeassse for me (puppy dog eyes) Lol well off we go-----  
  
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Hige sat silently for a moment, lover lying gently on his lap, as he let the soft, dying winds dance across his soft russet hair. He looked over Blue's delicate neck, the wound didn't look as serious as he had initially thought, the bullet had only grazed her, but the loss of blood was no good in the cold.  
  
"Blue, Blue don't fall asleep!" Hige softly shook her shoulders as he attempted to rise to his feet.  
  
"Mn," Blue woke with a start with her shoulders being forced into a standing position by Hige's gentle grip.  
  
"We've got to find shelter for the night, do you think you can run, Blue?" Hige asked as he brushed a snowflake from her flushed cheek.  
  
"Yeah, yeah I think so." Blue felt herself flash a false smile of reassurance. 'Why am I doing this?' Her thoughts pounded wildly within her head. 'This is Hige, I can tell him how I feel, I don't have to pretend to be strong.'  
  
"Actually," she sighed placing a trembling hand on his shoulder, "I'm feeling kind of shaky from the fight, I'm not really sure how far I can make it." She admitted as she silently chastised herself for not being honest in the first place.  
  
"Ok, I should be able to carry you till we find somewhere to stay, all we need is somewhere dry, and with my nose it won't take long." Hige laughed cockily as he slid his arm around her waist. He knew he shouldn't be so giddy, Blue was so injured and their predicament wasn't the best, but just being there--- Just seeing her beautiful azure eyes, touching her supple honey colored skin, and being enveloped in the soft tinkle of her melodic voice---it was enough. He felt almost sure he could die then, perfectly happy, with no regrets except that he hadn't had one second longer to enjoy her enchanting presence.  
  
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Blue asked sheepishly, cheeks cascading with shades of deep scarlet. 'Why does his touch turn me into such an idiot?' She mentally questioned herself, running a warm palm down her arm in an attempt to squelch the rising goose bumps.  
  
"Yeah but we better hurry, it's getting darker." Without one more sentence Hige pushed Blue's body up his back. "You better hold on to my neck," he warned, wrapping his arms around her legs before swiftly taking off into the snow.  
  
Blue sighed, laying her head against Hige's muscular back as she contemplated the soft huffs of his breath against the winter evening. The safe feeling of being near the one she loved was such a comfort.  
  
"Hige," she spoke in an almost inaudible whisper. "I never want to be apart from you again." She hesitated, his eyes remained forward fixated on finding a shelter for the nights woes. He didn't seem to have heard her words so she continued, "Hige," she spoke her lovers name once more, voice falling to an even lower octave as she let his name glide amiably across her tongue. "I love you"--- she whispered, before nuzzling her head into his warm back and falling into a deep sleep.  
  
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'  
  
Hige laid his sore back against the long stony wall of his new found shelter. He had been lucky enough to come upon it; long after his beloved had fallen asleep. It was a large boulder that jutted out in the perfect position to block both wind and snow. A cave was what he had intended to find, but as the weather dropped to the negatives of night he knew this was the best he could do. His shoulders quaked with shivers giving him an unpleasant reminder of the bitter cold engulfing him.  
  
Slowly Hige let his soft maroon eyes fall to Blue as she moaned and tossed fretfully in her sleep. "Shh, it's only a dream," he cooed, slightly embarrassed at the way he was behaving. "Blue you make me do weird things," he sighed to her sleeping body and let his fingers slip to her soft cheek.  
  
"Dammit!!" He swore as soon as his fingertip fell to her skin. She was so hot, clearly radiating with fever, why hadn't he noticed this?  
  
"Blue, Blue!! Wake up!!" He tenderly shook her shoulders for the second time that day, feeling guilty for once more disturbing her from the sleep she greatly needed. Except this time was different. This time she wouldn't wake up.  
  
"I've got to get her warm." He told himself aloud, desperately trying to compose his racing thoughts. "Firewood," he decided, slamming his fist into his palm. He started to step from his shelter when a long shaft of snow-filled wind caressed his tired cheeks. "Any wood I could find would be too damp." He told himself, feeling tears rise to his eyes and a knot fasten in his taunt throat.  
  
"Blue I don't know what to do." He admitted, falling to his knees once more and placing his teary cheeks on his warm palms. 'Why do I feel so desperate? I've never felt this way, so helpless, so alone---' his thoughts trailed off as his blurry vision fell upon the soft yet thick butter material of his sweatshirt. "There's still a chance then." He told the night as he ripped the sweatshirt over his head and placed it on her quaking shoulders.  
  
Blue continued to tremble in fever, snuggling deeper into the new warmth she had received. Yet the warmth wasn't from the material but more from the scent of her beloved that rested heavily upon it.  
  
"That's it, you'll be fine now." Hige spoke, a small smile crossing its way across his chapped lips as Blue nuzzled her nose into the rich creamy fabric. He leaned back and took a deep breath of air, resting a hand on his cool forehead, as he let his rushing mind return to a calmer state.  
  
"Look what you've done to me, Blue?" He chuckled, lying beside her to provide the rickety body with his own tender body heat. "I'm like a mother, freaking out about a fever." He willed his voice to be sure, confident but despite Hige's most valiant effort the voice that met his haggard ears was weak, unsure.  
  
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'  
  
(A/N: with the rest of the pack)  
  
Soft golden eyes lay to the swirling dance of snow and wind as his soft bated breaths filled the warm morning air with a cold fog. "Kiba, Hige hasn't come back yet. Do you think he'll be ok?" Toboe's gentle whimper filled the vacant walls of the deserted house the pack had taken as shelter.  
  
Toboe's eager ears waited for a response, hopefully of reassurance, but only silence pulsed through the air as Kiba lay against the wall, pretending to be asleep.  
  
"Tsume?" Toboe turned to his white-haired companion in desperation, "don't you think he should've gotten back last night? He's almost been gone a whole day, he could be lost---"  
  
"We knew he wouldn't come back." Tsume simply stated, shifting his position away from the pup's face. The runt was still young, his senses weren't fully developed and so he hadn't smelled her scent. Blue's scent, one of the assortment of things that could liberate Hige from his pack.  
  
"What do you mean, it's dangerous out there. He could be hurt!" The pup continued, stepping to the wall of the moldy house he wrapped his arms around Tsume's wrist. "Come on let's go find him."  
  
"Find him yourself if he means that much," Tsume growled, ripping his wrist from Toboe's meek hold. "That dog can do whatever he wants, I don't need him."  
  
"H-how can you say that?" Tears filled Toboe's glistening golden eyes as he turned his attention back to the unfeeling face of his pack leader. "Kiba, you care don't you? Hige's your good friend, don't you worry about him?"  
  
Kiba finally opened his eyes, tired of pretending he was asleep he rose his calm voice. "If he wants to part from us he's free to do so." Kiba stated simply, voice unwavering as he spoke to the young boy's melancholy eyes.  
  
"Kiba." Another voice piped in, reminding the wolves of the flower maiden's gentle presence. She spoke not another word but instead wrapped her pale fingers around the warm flesh of Kiba's arm.  
  
The pack leader's heart faltered; in her soft scarlet eyes he saw the image of his stocky friend, wallowing in pool of his own crimson blood. "Fine," he sighed, finally admitting defeat. "We can look for him till afternoon but then we have to keep moving." Kiba added, rising to his feet.  
  
"Of course," Toboe nodded, letting his voice take on the giddy emotions he was feeling. "I'm sure we can find him." He let a soft smile spread across his tender lips as stepped over to Tsume's now standing body.  
  
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'  
  
(A/N: not really sure why I feel like I always have to tell you this but back to Blue and Hige)  
  
Blue slowly opened her cobalt eyes as she felt gusts of soft warm breath waft her neck. "H-Hige?" She attempted to rise to her knees before falling as she coughed brutally into her hands, slightly shocked at the coarseness of her own voice. 'My neck,' she swiftly reminded herself. 'It was wounded in the battle, no wonder it hurts so much to breathe.'  
  
"Hige," she tried once more, taking care to talk quietly as she tenderly rubbed his shoulder. "His, his sweatshirt!" She gasped, struggling to stand once more before crumpling in pain. 'He must have given it to me to keep me warm.' She realized as she laid a soft hand on her arm, feeling the familiar material of her lover's jacket.  
  
"Oh Blue," Hige's waking voice suddenly touched the girl's tender ears, causing her to lurch in surprise. "Oh I'm sorry did I scare you?" He laughed sweetly, rising to his knees he combed his hand through her messy black hair.  
  
"No, no I'm fine." She managed, taking brief moments to cough into the ground.  
  
"You don't seem fine to me!" He protested at the rasping sound of her voice. Reaching down he pulled her body soothingly to his lap, holding her throbbing head to his warm chest. "We've got to get you back. Shouldn't be far though." He nodded as he closed his eyes in contemplation, swiftly sniffing the air.  
  
"Hige, stop a second!" Blue rose her voice dangerously high, as she pulsated in sudden pain. "You can't be too well either, sleeping all night in such sparse clothing." She recovered, feeling a sudden twang of guilt realizing she still had his sweatshirt wrapped lovingly around her own slender shoulders.  
  
"No I'm fine, used to the cold. Don't worry about me Blue." Hige protested, lifting her gently from his lap he rose to his weary feet. "It won't take long to get back to the city now that the snow has stopped falling so hard." He told her, turning his gleaming claret eye's to the thick mass of heavy gray clouds overhead. "We better hurry though, before the sky decided to 'snow' on our parade once more."  
  
"Well then let's go before you're too hungry to run." Blue let a smile spread across her arid lips as Hige boosted her once more on his muscular back.  
  
"Don't remind me!" Hige laughed as his stomach growled in agreement.  
  
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Ok, Ok so maybe this will be 3 chapters or maybe more. As I'm writing this I'm realizing the possibilities that lie with the pack's situation as well as Blue and Hige, not to mention Quent. Heh heh this might turn out being much longer than I had originally intended. Anyway, I'll try to write a longer chapter next time, I'm getting in to a bad habit of short ones because school is making writing feel like a chore. (sniff)  
  
Oh and I forgot! Nobody kill me, Blue's not dead, now anyway--- Hee hee am I evil or what?  
Hope you liked the chappie!! If you didn't well then---errr sorry (sweat drop)  
Please R&R, feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks! 


	3. Breakdown

Hey people, I'm back!! (dodges tomatoes) yeah, yeah ya know you missed me---what? You didn't? well---I'll live I suppose (sigh) lol hope everyone likes this chapter!! : )  
  
The painted wolf pup: YAY : ) nothing's better than knowing at least one person has my back on this fic! I'm glad I could make you happy with the up-date, what can I say, I live to serve. LOL! Yeah that chapter was kinda sad but it was mostly setting up the scenes for the next, or errr this chapter. Hope you continue to enjoy the fic, thanks for the review!  
  
Mayako: (helps you kill whatever makes the power go out) Can't let you have all the fun, now can I!? Lol, anyway, thanks for the review I'm trying my absolute best to get these chapters out quickly despite my slightly muddled schedule!! It's worth it though!!  
  
The Planner Conspiracy: It's a-aaa-awesome?? (teary eyes) really!? So y-you like it!!? BWAHAHA thanks (sniff) yes, I'm overdramatic XD I'll do my best to update quickly, you have my word!  
  
Whiskers: I can't tell you , sorry---I enjoy this torment, does that make me evil? Diabolical? Oh well, you'll find out soon enough : ) I will update Red Moon it's just that, well, school started back and I kinda forgot about the things I did during the summer. And now I can't update till I go back and re-read it, but rest assured I already have a plan of what's going to happen and I have half the chapter typed already. It will come very soon, this I can assure you!  
  
Toboe's pup: Hige can tough it out he doesn't need a hot dog!  
Hige: (bonks Nami on the head) what are you saying, you fool?? Of course I want that hot dog!  
Nami: Oh shut up and get back in the fic or I'll let a pack of lions eat Blue-  
Hige: Lions?! In the snow?  
Nami: It's my story, I'll do what I want!! And if that means making a certain big nosed wolf not be able to eat for weeks on end cause he's an annoying little twerp--well then I'm willing to make that sacrifice (nod)  
Hige: OK OK!!! I'll be good!  
Nami: If only he had showed that terror over the Blue threat -.-;  
  
Maiden Cheza: heehee thanks : ) you're too kind, really! Anyway, I'll try to keep up this fic's good name, at least I think it has a good name---hmmmn---(scritch scritch) Well we'll say it does (nod)  
  
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy-Chan: Sorry I didn't write you in the first chapter -.-; I had already written the first part and forgot to go back and add this. Gomen!! (sigh) anyway, I'm glad you liked it, aren't Blue and Hige just the cutest couple ever?! Oh Lord, i-it can't be happening---I---I'm turning into a FANGIRL!!!! (falls on knees) NOOOO!!!! Lol, I know, I'm weird : p  
  
Inu-yasha and snago luver: Hey I love Inu too!!! But did you mean Sango? Ah well, I'm glad you liked the story : ) Blue doesn't bother me, as long as she goes no where near Tsume or Toboe (shifty eyes) If she crosses that line she's dead. I'd love to read your fic! If you need a beta just tell me, I love to help people out! Hope you like this chapter, thanks for reviewing!!  
  
That's everyone! (claps hands together) ok off to the ficcy!!  
  
"blah"-- dialogue (duh)  
'blah'--thoughts  
  
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'Where is that dumb mutt?' Quent's head pounded, as he swooned over the liquor in his system.  
  
"Barkeep, 'nother drink!" He commanded in a slightly slurred voice. Suddenly, leaning his body over the bar, he slammed his glass cup to the surface of the soft maple wood, shattering it into numerous glittering pieces.  
  
"Dammit, that's the third cup you've broken tonight, I think you've had enough, sir." The agitated bartender leaned over the splintered mess; expertly swiping the jagged pieces with a white rag to the trashcan he held bellow.  
  
"I'll tell you when I've had enough!" Quent bellowed in a drunken stupor, sloppily reaching for the gun hidden in the long swathes of deep brown material. Before he could reach the weapon his arm was gruffly pulled around his back, sending pulsing pains through his head as he felt the soft metal mouth of a pistol against his hair.  
  
"Sir, it's time for you to leave." The bartender whispered in a new no nonsense tone while still maintaining his polite purveyor demeanor.  
  
'He's been doing this along time,' Quent thought smugly. "Alright I'm gone," The old man took a step out of the barkeep's grasp, taking a moment to smooth out the wrinkles of his coat. "Better watch your back though," he turned his head to the disgruntled bartender's face as he opened the door. "The man you try to pull that stunt on next time might be a lot younger and faster than me." He winked, before stepping in the cold night air, leaving the tavern with only the sound of a tinkling bell to fill its stone corners.  
  
"Stupid old man," The young barkeep sighed, leaning his head in a quick prayer before continuing to polish a stray glass on one of the dusty shelves.  
  
'I can't keep this up much longer.' Hige thought to himself as his vision blurred, mixing the white snow and gray sky in a sickly mixture of dribble. The young man turned his head to his feet in hopes of clearing his mind, only to become instantly nauseated at the sight of his racing steps.  
  
"Hige, Hige are you okay!?" Blue croaked through her barely audible voice as her love gagged and coughed below her.  
  
"I'll be okay I think I just have to rest a while." Hige huffed as he slowly turned his rushing tempo to a brisk walk, shuffling his shoes feverishly through the packed snow below. 'This isn't right,' his mind races anxiously. 'I-I can't be sick; I have to take care of Blue!! Nothing else matters, if I stopped she could die---' His thoughts suddenly ceased as he slowly pitched forward, body heavily flopping to the rigid, glacial ground.  
  
"HIGE!!" Blue coughed, struggling to pull her leg from his weight. "Hige you've got to wake up!!" She wailed sore throat tensing with fear of her companion's condition. 'This is all my fault,' her mind pounded angrily as pearly cold tears streamed down her tan cheeks. 'If he hadn't given me his sweatshirt---n-no, if I hadn't turned my head when he called my name-- i-if I had just paid attention to the battle, none of this would've happened.  
  
"Hige," Blue tried again, viciously coughing from the overuse of her wounded throat.  
  
"Mn," Hige moaned in response, slowly opening his glossy maroon eyes to stare upon his lover's panic knitted brow. "It's okay, Blue, I'll be fi--," He started before rising abruptly to his knees and vomiting on the soft white snow.  
  
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"It's no use, we can't find him anywhere." Toboe whimpered, grasping Tsume's leather vest in his pallid fist.  
  
"Don't whine to -me- runt," Tsume grumbled indignantly, pulling from the pup's weak grasp. "You were the one who wanted to look for the mutt."  
  
"I'm not whining!" Toboe argued jutting his jaw out resentfully, "I'm just worried about Hige, that's all. I mean, it's not like him to go missing like this. I just hope he's okay." The runt sighed in an almost inaudible whisper turning his shining golden eyes to the icy black roads below his snow-encrusted boots.  
  
"That's not necessarily true." Tsume reasoned hesitantly dropping his hand to Toboe's slender shoulder. "We haven't know him very long; and even if he did get into trouble, he's a big dog, he can take care of himself." The white-haired man affirmed, quickly retracting his arm to his side as if afraid to be spotted providing a comforting gesture.  
  
"I guess that's true." Toboe turned his head up once more, slightly more enthused having been granted the honor of Tsume's compassionate touch. "A-and even if it wasn't, Kiba might've found him, right?" The runt's soft auburn hair swirled across his soft pink cheeks, shining with new hope.  
  
Tsume's heart skipped a beat faintly at the sight of the runt's hopeful eyes. "Sure, whatever, pup," he stumbled through his words awkwardly. "We won't know unless we find him, though, so enough talk." The white-haired man nodded, sniffing the air for his companion's scent before setting briskly off into the silhouette of thick cold fog and tall metal buildings.  
  
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'This pain, what is this pain!' Hige struggled with himself, trying desperately to move his arms, his legs, anything! 'I-I've never felt anything like this,' the storm in his mind commenced, brutally twisting his stomach in knots of throbbing pain.  
  
He winced slightly as he felt a cool hand gently wipe his forehead. 'That touch,' he recalled suddenly feeling the pain slightly dissipate enough to clear his raging mind. 'Blue's touch,' he sensed, sending a new wave of chills through his aching muscles.  
  
"Hige, it's okay, love." She soothed through her raspy voice, trying desperately to bring him to consciousness.  
  
'This situation is hopeless,' she sensed, sending a surge of desolation through her weary body. "It wouldn't be so bad," she rose her voice to the silent night of darkness engulfing her apprehensive body. "I-It wouldn't be so bad knowing I was going to die with the one I--- the one that I love, it's just---" She tried to continue but her voice tightened in pain sending gentle tears to trace her gloomy face. "It's just-knowing it was my fault for our deaths--"  
  
Blue turned her head to the snow packed earth as strangled sobs escaped her chapped lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping the world would dissipate if she were not to look upon it, only to feel a light touch against her cheek.  
  
"Hige?" She asked, quickly straightening in surprise while hastily wiping away her tears.  
  
"Yes," he nodded slightly as his radiant maroon eyes stared to the depths of her soft azure orbs. "Don't blame yourself, please Blue." He begged in a weak voice, gently sending two quivering fingers to caress her tender cheek from its tearful offenders.  
  
"I can't help it." Blue sobbed, pulling her legs into her chest as her back pulsated angrily.  
  
"Blue, you're going to kill yourself if you keep this up!" Hige huffed, wincing as he pulled his body into a sitting position and his vision slowly cleared. His eyes hungrily swallowed the surroundings; it wasn't until now that he noticed the embankment Blue had brought them to. As far as shelter goes it was well placed, a soft ditch, dipping a good 6 feet into the earth to block from the cold harsh wind with long pine branches pulled crudely over the top to block from snowfall.  
  
"Blue how--," he started, slightly puzzled as to how this sick, injured girl could create such a shelter by herself.  
  
"Oh," Blue sighed following the gaze of her lover's claret eyes. "Gomen, Hige, I know it was dangerous but when you passed out I knew I had to get you out of the snow and this was the closest thing I could find--"  
  
"You mean this was already here?" Hige asked apprehensively, fearing the answer he might receive.  
  
"Y-yes, I know what you're going to say, that I shouldn't have risked it, that whoever made it might come back. But the scent was weak, and you were in such a state, I just panicked." She sighed, letting her words trail off into the silence of night.  
  
"It's okay, Blue, I'd never be mad at you." Hige whispered as his sides heaved in pain sending him crumpled over his knees in agony.  
  
"HIGE!! Hige are you okay!?" The blue-eyes girl screamed compassionately placing her tan hands on Hige's quaking shoulders, sending her to reel back in pain at memory of her own ailments.  
  
"I'll be okay," Hige gasped through gritted teeth, just worry about yourself he begged as warm sweat coursed his forehead. Silence drummed Hige's haggard ears as he waited patiently for Blue's response. "Blue?" He asked, wincing, he straightened and turned his head to his lover's face only to see her sprawled awkwardly on the cold, snow-covered ground, crimson blood running from her lips.  
  
"BLUE!" He yelled, desperately he struggled to rise to his feet, only to have a feverish fit of dizziness pass over him each time. He finally gave up holding his burning forehead in his soft palms, trying to regain his composure to reach his lover's side.  
  
"Lieutenant, I think I heard voices coming from the trench," a barely audible voice faintly crossed Hige's ears, causing him to stiffen in rigid fear.  
  
"Well go check out, soldier, Mr. Darcia won't have any pesky animals disrupting his plans," Was a deep malicious voice's reply. "Oh and soldier, don't forget your gun. You never know what kind of rabid animals are in these parts," the voice cackled deeply.  
  
"Yes, sir," came the quick response making Hige's hair stand on the edge of his neck.  
  
'I've got to get us out of here,' Hige's mind stormed as his vision blurred and a piercing pain throbbed through his muscles, once more making him fall in the black of unconsciousness.  
  
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Hee Hee I'm EVIL!!!!!!! Does everyone hate me? Oh man I really do feel bad for this, it kills me when a fic leaves off in a cliff hanger! But as a writer it's well---fun's not quite the word--I guess it's just evil, neh? -.-  
  
Anyway, I'm so proud of getting this chapter out this week at all!! It's been truly hectic for me, I'm not even going to be around a computer for the next 4 days! (gasp) (faint) LOL, well it's not tragic for me but if some one likes this fic it might be a little annoying. But I'll make a vow. If I feel it necessary to at least start writing the fic in a notebook or something, judging from the reviews, that is, then I will. See? I'm not -that- wicked : )  
  
Well anyway, as always please R&R----wait if you're here right now you've probably already read it haven't you? Well then ummn please review, reviews make me happy! Thanks to all you nice supporters (glomps the people who like this fic) Until next time, ciao! : ) 


	4. Finding our love

Gomen, I know this chap took a long time to update but I just can't win!!!! (cries furiously) I was almost done writing this chapter--like two sentences away and Microsoft had a problem and had to close!!!!! Their stupid little "we're sorry for your inconvenience" is not enough!!!!!! I'm going to sue!!!! My whole chap, down the toilet!!!!!!!!! (sniff sniff) I may be overreacting but this really, really, really sucks!! I have never had such a problem wrestling the computer to let me write a fic---is this a sign that my story sucks and I should stop while I'm ahead? GAH!! T.T I-it's just not fair!! (cries again)  
  
Ok enough self-pity; I guess I'll write this chapter allll over again--(walks away grumbling, once more I night add)  
  
Before I start, shout out to all you awesomely awesome reviewers!!!  
  
Mayako: Yes, I'm very evil but I didn't intend to be as evil as I feel right now--waiting so long to update. I hope you're not sick!! (hands you some tea and cough drops) Stay healthy! Aww you had to move!? I can sympathize! I'm moving over Christmas--but I've only been in this house for ummn about 7 years. Still sad though so you get a hug and a jug of pocky! (hug) Thanks for reviewing and I hope everything turns out ok!  
  
Thir13en Ghosts- Elemental: (resuscitates your cat) hehe I'm not the only one who does that!! My poor cat has permanent arm prints on his fur from my squeezing him during heart-throbbing fanfics : ) lol they should start a club! (cough) Anyhoo-- hope you like how things turn out in this chapter! Thanks for the review!  
  
Sessy's Girl: B-but I wanna be Sessy's girl!! That man ish soooo damn sexy!! (cough) Back on topic--one good thing, neh? (rubs chin) well, since you complimented my writing (thanks BTW) and said please I shall squeeze in something special (eye glint) Hope you enjoy it! : )  
  
The Planner Conspiracy: I'll get right on it!! Keyboard to the rescue!!! Oh and thanks for reviewing!  
  
Whiskers: (whimper) (checks over shoulder) O-ok, yes ma'm, I'll protect them with my life--or rather protect my life by protecting theirs! Of course I could do something evil if I'm feeling rebellious (cackle) guess you'll just have to read and see (wink)  
  
Toboe's pup: I agree!! I hate it when people just leave a fic hanging in mid-air!! There is nothing I hate worse than wandering into an awesome fic, becoming completely captivated, and then to see that it's incomplete and the last time it was updated was in 2001. Yeah it makes me sad and mad at the same time, now I may be slow to update but if I have no intentions to finish a fic, I remove it. No point torturing people like that! And of course you can have a cookie!! (hands you a jar of cookies) Let it be known that I am not a cookie dictator!!! (dances around like a lunatic, showering her reviewers in cookies) Free the cookies, virtual cookies for all!!!! Hehe --; Thanks for the review!!  
  
Maiden Cheza: I made the mistake of checking my e-mail at church on my cell phone and noticed your review. When I read that "sexy beast" thing I burst out laughing and got well---a few odd looks -.-; LOL!! Anyway, glad you liked the chapter, the tenderness is only going to get mushier and mushier. Let's just put it this way--there is a LOT of fluff planned for this chapter!! (sigh) It makes me so happy and embarrassed to write this stuff (floats away happily)  
  
The painted wolf pup: You're always the first to review the new chaps; you really make me want to keep going with your support!! Thanks so much!! You'll find out what happened to Hige in this chapter or the next I think--and thanks for reviewing every chap of Red Moon, the next chapter is almost and complete and should most definitely be up this week (nod) Thanks again for your support!!  
  
Hope every one likes this chapter--despite the fact that I have to write it all over again so it'll probably suck (sigh) Well off we go---  
  
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Darkness engulfed Hige's being as the sound of his labored breaths drummed through his restless mind. He struggled to raise a hand to his aching forehead, only to be denied the movement with a sharp sting to his wrist. 'W-where am I?!' His tired mind screamed the question over and over until it blurred into confusion, making him feel lightheaded.  
  
"H-Hige," a gentle yet hoarse voice broke Hige's reverie, cleansing his mind with the memory of his previous encounter.  
  
"Blue? What happened--where are we?" He asked impatiently as he slowly opened his dreary maroon eyes to the damp gray surroundings and whipped his head around until his sight fell to his lover's delicate profile. Blue sat in the middle of the small prison type room, arms and legs both chained tightly around a faded wooden chair.  
  
"I'm not really sure--sorry." Blue gulped, trying desperately to hide the regret lacing her voice, she turned her head to the moldy cement ceiling, blinking back bitter tears. "We got captured, somehow--I-I really don't know what happened. I just remember talking to you and the next thing I knew," Blue took a heavy breath as she forced herself to continue. She was strong, she had to be strong. "The next thing I knew I found the two of us chained to this empty prison."  
  
Hige's eyes fell to his hands at Blue's enlightening words, noticing for the first time the chains digging into the flesh of his arms and legs, flakes of blood tracing the veins of his wrists where the shackles were bound too tightly. "Don't be sorry, Blue, it's not your fault." His heart pounded heavily in his chest making him shift uneasily. The tips of his fingers prickled in longing to touch the supple skin of the depressed girl, to embrace her comfortingly and comb their way through her flowing black hair.  
  
'Now's not the time for those kind of thoughts!' Hige mentally chastised himself, biting his lip in attempts to squelch his immoral thoughts with pain.  
  
"Are you okay, Hige?" Blue inquired, tilting her head slightly to the side, she couldn't help but giggle quietly. She knew that face, the scrunched up nose, the lip biting--both habitual quirks of her stocky lover. Quirks only presented when he was feeling particularly uncomfortable or embarrassed, needless to say Blue herself had seen this face displayed numerous times before.  
  
"Y-yeah I'm okay," Hige nodded hastily, not wanting to upset the injured girl over his internal struggle. "How about you?" He asked in concern, Blue's voice sounded weak and if possible even more rasping than before; the wet atmosphere of this place probably wasn't helping her poor condition either.  
  
"I'm fine, don't worry about me, Hige." Blue sighed, staring despairingly to her chained wrists, longing to lay her pounding head in her warm palms.  
  
"You're not fine!!" Hige tried to raise his voice but was forced to his formerly calm state by a sudden wave of dizziness. 'I guess I'm not as fine as I thought,' his mind throbbed, darkness creeping in on the corner of his docile claret eyes. "You don't have to lie to me." He continued after a few shaky breaths to calm his now churning stomach.  
  
"I----I'm sorry, Hige. You're right, I'm not well, but---but there's nothing you can do and--and I'm not the only one who's lying anyway!" Blue's calm voice turned to an angry one as she stared miserably to her lover's hanging head.  
  
"What do you mean?" Hige asked dryly, refusing to draw his eyes to hers for fear of her reading his every emotion.  
  
"What do I mean? Hige, I know you better than anyone! I know when you're lying, and it doesn't suit you." Blue ran her tongue across her lips, contemplating what more she could say. "I-I love you, Hige, we--we have to be honest with one another, don't you think?" She finished, shifting uneasily in her chains as heavy silence filled the air, broken only by the occasional drop of water falling from the dark cement ceiling.  
  
"That's the first time--" Hige started, before letting his voice drop to a throaty whisper and digging his nails in his pallid palms. "The first time you've ever told me you loved me." He finished, breathing heavily in a manner that Blue knew to be an attempt to draw back tears; tears of warmth, tears of happiness, tears of love.  
  
"I love you too," Hige gulped, embarrassed by the quaking his usually strong voice gave and the soft shaking of his muscular shoulders. "I've always loved you, since the first time I met you, I wanted you to be mine. It hurt when you were away, like a void. I didn't know if you were safe, if-if you were well, and I wanted to always be with you. But I could never say it, I thought I was too strong but now, now I see I wasn't strong at all. I was weak; weak like I am now, weak like when I let those soldiers shoot you, and the same weakness when I let us get captured. But not anymore, Blue. I'm gonna be strong now, for you and only you, I'll learn to be strong."  
  
Hige gave a soft sniff and turned his glistening crimson eyes to his lover's warm face, mentally capturing this moment, their re-birth as a couple, no longer weak but strong.  
  
"Hige," Blue mouthed, finding her voice at a loss she let the pearly tears streaming down her flushed cheeks be her response. Her agreement. She was his and would always be as such. No matter the miles between them their hearts would be together, beating in unison, strong and alive by the love that connected them.  
  
Hige's hands trembled wildly in their restraints, he wanted so bad to touch her silky, blushed cheek, to wipe away the glistening tears cascading from her captivating sapphire eyes. He bit the inside of his cheek and pushed his shoulders against the chains, struggling to remove their hold.  
  
"What are you doing?" Blue managed to squeak through her sobbing as she lifted a shoulder to wipe away the cold tears dripping from the bridge of her nose.  
  
"I'm getting us out of here," Hige snarled simply, he continued to bite heavily on his cheek as the copper taste of blood filled his mouth.  
  
"It's useless, I've tried, these chains are too strong. Please, Hige, I don't want you to hurt yourself."  
  
Hige continued to struggle against his shackles, grunting angrily as he raised his legs against the wall and pushed outwards before allowing himself to fall huffily to his original position. A few stones rained sparingly from the ceiling, clouding the two lovers in a momentary cloud of earth before settling once more on the prison floors.  
  
"I almost got it," Hige wheezed and coughed uncomfortably, leaning his head softly to the wall behind him.  
  
"What happened, why'd ya have to stop?" Blue asked curiously, trying to hold back the laughter threatening to escape over the smears of dirt covering her lover's sweaty brow.  
  
"Damn chains cut off my windpipe, could've gotten it too." He snapped back in mock anger as he studied the ceiling to assess the damage.  
  
Blue opened her chapped lips slowly to give a response, but snapped them closed as gruff voices and brisk footsteps echoed through the cold cement walls, plunging the two wolves in an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Blue, have you seen our captors yet?" Hige whispered quietly, not daring to raise his voice any further as he bawled and recoiled his fists in both anger and worry.  
  
"No, not yet." She managed back, chest pounding angrily in fear as soft clack resounded through the prison and stale light flooded its sepulchral walls.  
  
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"This one senses him that way." Cheza's airy voice sounded through the cold winter's wind as she stretched out her pale arm, pointing intently to an alleyway.  
  
"Yes, yes I can smell liquor, it must be him." Kiba's wry voice answered back distastefully as he shifted under the flower maiden's weight. They had been searching for some time, or at least long enough for him to worry about her freezing her delicate feet through the thin material of those garish pink boots.  
  
'Quent better know where you are, Hige.' Kiba snarled to himself. 'We're not going to be able to look much longer.' He suddenly stopped his pace before hesitating and regaining his brisk steps. What was that emotion laced through the depths of his thoughts? Was it, it couldn't be---worry? But why should he worry? His whole life people had abandoned him, and he had abandoned others in return. This was a wolf's life these days; you can't let people slow you down. Paradise is the objective and compared to it no one else matters, and so, in this manner emotions are useless. Happiness, anger, sadness---love, they are worthless. What can they do for you? Nothing, yes this was the only answer acceptable, they served to slow you down, to make you weak, and nothing else.  
  
"Kiba, this one hears Toboe and Tsume." Cheza's wispy voice interrupted the boy's reverie, plunging him once more into the cold air of reality.  
  
"Hn, maybe they had the same idea as us." He told the girl, turning his head he watched as his companions ran gracefully through the snow, muscled contracting deeply at each stride.  
  
"K-Kiba," Toboe huffed as reached the messy-haired boy's body. Turning to his human form he clutched a hand to his chest and leaned on a wall of the alleyway, struggling to catch his breath. "W-we caught you." He gasped, straightening a little while a bead of sweat trickled down his flushed cheek.  
  
"Seems like we need to get a move on, the runt's getting out of shape." Tsume laughed through his own shallow breathing as he knocked the pup lightly on his head.  
  
"You were looking for us--?" Kiba's metal azure eyes stared placidly to Tsume's form as he bent down slowly to let Cheza down from his back.  
  
"Yes." Tsume simply nodded before continuing. "You're looking for -him-, aren't you?" Tsume asked, quickly dodging Cheza's slender body as she shuffled to Toboe's side.  
  
"How'd you guess?" Kiba inquired sarcastically, letting a cold sneer move across his lips he shrugged slightly and turned back to the alley. "He's close, the smell of alcohol is stronger than ever." The boy called, not bothering to turn his head to the group behind him as he walked unflinching into the shadows of the passage.  
  
"Do you really think he'll know where Hige is?" Tsume asked gruffly, tones of cynicism snaking his heavy voice.  
  
"Hige's somewhere in this city, I can sense that much. As to where his specific position is, well I think he's be our best bet to finding out." Kiba explained, pausing his footsteps a moment to reply before shoving his hands in his pockets and continuing his long walk forward. "He's with Blue, she means more to him than we do."  
  
"You don't intend to stay a day longer do you?" Tsume asked angrily, partially for his stocky companion and for the emotions he knew would arise in Toboe's gentle soul if their comical friend was left behind.  
  
Kiba remained silent, letting the wind dance through his hair in ribbons of auburn swirls. He couldn't tell Tsume his true feelings. The views he had let himself resign to--every wolf should live only for his own well-being. Yes, that was the truth the endless nights of bitter death and despair had taught him, but they had taught him something else, something of even more consequence. For in his well being, to maintain his sanity, the security of his friends and the relationship they shared was necessary. He had no intentions of leaving without one of them, they were his pack, they were his being.  
  
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Ok that's the next chapter---not as good as the first time I wrote it but ooo well. (sigh) Ummn yeah, you've probably figured out who the pack are looking for, it's soo sooo obvious but you'll no for sure in the next chap. And you should find out why Hige's in such poor health.  
  
Well thanks for reading, I really appreciate it and should be a lot quicker with the next chap--especially because the meager bout of writer's black I was facing has dissipated almost completely (sigh of relief)  
  
Oh to Sessy's Girl-- did you catch the good stuff? It might've been hard to pick out but it was all the Hige and Blue fluff. Yep, not much but c'mon they were happy at least for a little while, right? I really wanted to let them kiss but alas, the chains prevented it. So I suppose I'll have to save their first kiss for another chapter--oh well, all the more to look forward to, right?  
Anyway, Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'm still living up to the others, I'm trying really really hard!!! : ) Well once again, thanks for reading. Please review!! They not only inspire me but make me work much more quickly!  
  
Thanks to all you supporters out there, you guys rock hard!!!  
  
Ciao :D 


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